Helen Shirley Fuller

Helen Shirley Fuller, of Oak Ridge, Tenn., died at age 79 on Jan. 16, 2018.

Helen Shirley Fuller, of Oak Ridge, Tenn., died at age 79 on Jan. 16, 2018.

She was born on Dec. 25, 1938 in Limestone County, Ala., to Claude Delap and Mamie Pope Delap.

She graduated from Clinton High School in 1957, where she was captain of the cheerleading squad her senior year.

Her first employment was with State Farm Insurance. She later worked for the city of Oak Ridge, and later as a secretary for Union Carbide.

She had three children and seven grandchildren. Helen’s oldest child is Joel Loy Shirley (Maria), of Senoia, Ga. He has three children and six grandchildren. Her middle child was David Shirley (deceased), who had one child, Ryan and two grandchildren. Helen’s youngest child is Donna Shirley Smith (Stuart), of Fort Collins, Colo., who has three children.

She married Leonard Clark “Len” Fuller in 1969. He had two children by his first marriage. His oldest child is Deborah Lane, of Oak Ridge. She has three children and eight grandchildren. His youngest is Clark Fuller, of Gulf Shores, Ala., and he has two children.

Helen was an accomplished seamstress, making clothes for herself, her husband, and all the children. She also sewed for friends and acquaintances around town.

She was involved with aerobics, including helping with teaching since age 45. Around 1970, she began playing softball and also learned to play tennis. She met many life-long friends on the tennis court.

She took up pottery in the year 2000 and spent many hours pursuing that hobby, as well as volunteering time at the Oak Ridge Art Center pottery studio.

Len and Helen greatly enjoyed their travels in the States, Canada, and Costa Rica. They also enjoyed years of hiking in the Smokies, including one year they hiked a total of 350 miles.

She was very talented with her flower gardens. In the early years, she did a lot of vegetable gardening.

She has a brother, Charles Delap, of Stow, Ohio, and a nephew, Terry, also in Ohio. She had a brother, Carlos Delap (deceased.)

The family requests that donations be made in Helen’s memory to the Oak Ridge Art Center, 201 Badger Avenue, Oak Ridge, TN 37830.

The family will receive friends on Saturday, Jan. 20, 2018, from 4 to 6 p.m., at Weatherford Mortuary. An online guest book may be signed at weatherfordmortuary.com.

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